Finding the balance between freedoms and fighting terrorism

The murder of Istanbul criminal prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz in a raid on his office in the Istanbul Courthouse by two militants of the outlawed Revolutionary People?s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) on March 31 triggered waves of trauma at a time when Turkey is heading for critical parliamentary elections on June 7.

President Tayyip Erdo?an denounced the attack as a ?trap? for Turkey as Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu slammed the opposition for not displaying the necessary ?spirit of unity? with the government at such a dire time.

(The attackers by the way had crime records involved with the DHKP-C, and one of them had two brothers, one of whom was the subject of a red Interpol bulletin because of involvement in an attack against the U.S. Embassy in Ankara in 2013 and the other in prison in Greece.)

The opposition parties, which actually condemned the attack themselves, question the way that the terrorist attack took place during which the two militants were also killed: How were the militants able to get into the ? supposedly ? high-security building with pistol(s), as well as the flags and placards of their organization, to reach the prosecutor?s office on the sixth floor? Was that related to a security breach related with a massive power outage at that hour of the day? Did the government do everything right to save the life of the prosecutor? How could Erdo?an say that the police operation was successful when it resulted in the death of Kiraz?

The government, on the other hand, focused on the justification for tighter security measures in order to maintain public order to avoid ?possible provocative actions before the elections,? as PM Davuto?lu said after the operation is over.

The government?s conclusion out of this...